Treading Water
by CityofFandomz
Summary: Pernico/Percico :) Enjoy. Nico had gone three months without cutting, but during those three months, life had been easy. He'd spent the school year with Percy and Grover. Sure, there had been monsters, but those were nothing compared to the monsters Nico and Percy faced when they returned to CHB when the couple decides to come out of the closet.
1. Chapter 1

Nico pressed the blade against his skin and closed his eyes. He couldn't stand it anymore. He'd promised Percy that he would stop, but that was before they returned to Camp Halfblood. Before everything went downhill and the teasing started. He'd gone nearly all summer without cutting. But then again, he'd spent all summer with Percy. The one person on Earth that new him inside and out, who would protect him from anything.

Unfortunately, Percy couldn't protect Nico from himself.

The blade cut into his skin, sending a stinging pain up his arm. Nico opened his eyes and stared at the blood blossoming from the new gash. It dripped off his arm and onto the dark, wooden floor of Nico's cabin. Tears trickled down his cheeks as he cut again.

* * *

When Percy and Nico had returned to camp at the beginning of the summer, they'd been greeted as usual, but once everyone found out about the two boys being a couple… they began relentless. Their words became a weapon that damaged Nico's heart.

Nico had only ever wanted three thing in life: Bianca's safety, Percy Jackson's love, and the ability to fit in.

The first… well...Nico hoped she rested peacefully in Elysium. The second one he'd gotten. The third...that was impossible.

He was the son of the god of death, and, on top of that, he was gay. It was Zeus himself wanted the poor boy to be miserable, which would make sense since his dad didn't get along with the god of the sky.

Nico had been avoided before, shoved to the corner like a nasty diseased animal. He could've lived with that… Now, he and Percy seemed to be the center of attention. People whispered about them, pointed… They teased the couple everyday.

_That_ Nico couldn't stand. He'd rather be ignored; he was at least used to _that_.

* * *

The blade fell out of Nico's shaky hand when he heard a knock on the door.

"Nico? You alright?" Percy.

"Yeah." His voice shook.

"Nico?" Percy asked with more concern than before, "Unlock the door."

"No, Percy… I…" The door shook as Percy wrapped his fist against it.

Nico scrambled to hide his blades. He quickly bandaged his arm and pulled on his aviator jacket to hide it. He was about to open the door-Percy was still calling for Nico to let him in- when he spotted the blood still on the floor.

"Nico? Is everything okay?"

Faintly, Nico heard one of the camper's voices- Clarisse's maybe- shout out an insult, and Percy's voice faltered.

"Get lost, Clarisse!" He shouted.

Nico grabbed the welcome mat and tossed it over the fresh blood. He'd have to deal with that later. He knew just about every way to remove blood, including from his own body.

Nico forced a smile onto his face, wiped a few remaining tears from his eyes, and opened the door. Someone outside threw rainbow confetti over Percy's head and into the cabin. The ghost king's smile fell. He grabbed Percy's arm and yanked him inside.

"What?" Nico accidentally snapped. His arm had started to throb, and he was in no mood to deal with people, even perfect people such as Percy Jackson.

Percy gave Nico a look like a kicked puppy, "I'm sorry for putting you through all this." He plucked a string of confetti out of Nico's hair.

"It's not your fault." Nico moved back towards his bed, "A relationship is two ways. i agreed to dating you. Unfortunately, Camp Halfblood isn't the best support group."

Percy kicked off his shoes and sat next to him. He leaned over and rested his head on Nico's shoulder, "How're are you holding up?"

The younger boy shrugged, "I don't kn-"

"You moved your rug."

Nico tensed up. "Yeah…"

"Why?"

"I… um… I like, when I wake up in the morning, I like to stand on." Gods, he sounded stupid. Stupid stupid.

"You like to stand on it?" Percy asked skeptically.

"Yup."

"Okay…"

They sat together in silence. Nico hoped it wasn't as awkward as it felt.

After a minute or two, Percy reached over and slid his hand into Nico's, "I'm proud of you."

His statement startled Nico, "Proud? Why?" Why would anyone ever be proud of him? He'd never done anything heroic, not like Percy had.

"Because, I know everyone here has been a real jerk lately, but you still haven't resorted back to self harming. How many months clean have you been?"

Nico glanced up at Percy. His stomach was knotted so tightly he thought he was going to throw up. The smile. The smile on Percy face, the same one he'd fallen for, was what kept Nico from telling him the truth.

"About… three."

Percy pulled Nico into a bear hug, "I think we should throw a party. 3 months is a big deal."

Nico hugged Percy back, but he was frowning, "Who do you think would want to come to a party for a gay couple? Everyone here has pretty much expressed their hatred for us."

Percy pulled back and grinned at Nico, cupping his face, "Then I'll throw you a party, just between us. Sound good?"

"Yeah... Sounds great." Nico said. Luckily, Percy didn't catch the lack of enthusiasm in his voice.

"Fantastic!" Percy lept up and backed towards the door, "I'll be here at eight."

That said, he left the cabin.


	2. Chapter 2

Around 7:30, there was a knock on the door of the Hades Cabin. Nico slid on his jacket and moved to open it. The moment he'd turned the handle, the Stoll brothers barged in.

"Hey, Neeks. We got you and your boyfriend something." Travis said, throwing something black at Nico's face.

He caught it at the last second and glanced down at it, "A t-shirt?"

"Read it." Connor grinned devilishly.

Nico was suddenly worried, " What you guy… Seriously?"

The ghost king held up the black shirt and across the front in bold letters said, "**AYE, HE'S MINE.**"

The twins snorted with laughter, "We got Percy a blue one."

Nico threw the shirt back at them, "We don't want it."

"Oh come on. Don't be a stick in the mud." One of the twins, he didn't know which, spoke, still shaking with laughter.

"Yeah," The other one stated, "You two are dating after all."

The son of Hades shot them a glare, "Get out."

"Come on, Nico. Don't-"

"Get out!" He snapped, shoving the twins out the door and slamming it shut behind them.

Once he was sure the Stoll brothers would not be making another interest, he collapsed onto the bed and sighed. He felt his face and sure enough, a fiery blush awaited his fingertips. With a grunt, he chucked his pillow across the room and curled up in a ball.

Half an hour later, there was a soft knock on the door then the squeak of it opening.

"Go away." Nico groaned, reaching for another pillow to use as ammunition.

"Nope. Can't get rid of me that easily." Percy laughed quietly and moved closer. Nico felt the bed dip behind him and his boyfriend's hand on his shoulder, "Is everything alright?"

He huffed and sat up, almost banging his and Percy's foreheads together, "The Stolls came by today. They wanted to give us these stupid t-shirts."

Nico was surprised when the amazing sound of Percy's laughter filled the room, "You mean these things?" He held up two shirts, one black and one blue, "Can you imagine us walking around camp wearing these?"

A smile began to creep onto Nico's face, "If we didn't demand attention now, we would then."

"It'll tell them we didn't care what they said. We're happy and they're just jealous because they aren't."

Nico's smile faltered, "Yeah. We don't care at all."

Percy, lucky for the ghost king, was oblivious to this action, "Hey, I brought cake!" He walked towards the door where a giant blue cake rested on the dresser, "Lucky for you, my mom taught me how to make something. I tried to put a skull on it, but… as you can see…"

Nico held back laughter when he saw the blob of white and grey icing piled atop the cake. It was round with two holes that could've been eye sockets…

"I love it." He said, "Thank you so much."

Percy's smile lit up the room, "I love you, Nico." He sat beside him and placed the cake on the bed.

"I love you, too." Nico cupped the side of Percy's face and leaned into kiss him.

When their lips connected, it was exactly like the first time: sparks flying, heart beating in rhythm with each other. Percy wrapped his arms around Nico and pulled him onto his lap. He pressed his lips harder against the other boy's. Nico's arms went around Percy's neck as he straddled the son of the sea god's waist.

Percy pulled away and tugged at Nico's jacket, sliding it down around his elbows. He continued to pull on the sleeves while kissing the son of Hades' neck. He ran his hands down Nico's arms, happy just to be in that moment together…

until he felt the bandages.

Percy yanked his head away from Nico's neck at the same time that Nico jerked his arm out of Percy's grip.

"You said _three months!_" The son of Poseidon snapped, "Three months, Nico! Not three minutes!"

Nico didn't answer. Instead he slid off Percy's lap and sat next to him, refusing to meet his angry green gaze.

"Is that what you were doing when you took forever to open the door? You were cutting?"

Nico still didn't answer. Percy huffed out a breath and jumped to his feet, pacing around the room, "Where are they?"

"Where's what?"

"Don't where's what me, Nico di Angelo. Where are your blades?"

This made Nico look up at him. Tears were pouring down Percy's face.

"Percy…"

"Don't 'Percy' me! Where are they?" He shouted.

"No. You can't have them this time." Nico's anger was building now, "You took them last time, and I tried, Percy. I really did, but I can't live without them."

"Nico, so help me, I will tear this room apart looking for them." Percy strode angrily towards the ghost king.

"Just calm down, okay? I know you're mad, but taking my blades away isn't going to help anything." Nico tried to calm Percy down with his soft voice.

"You almost _died_ last time!" The angry boy shouted, and collapsed. He leaned back against the bed and let the tears run down his face like flood waters. Nico didn't move to comfort him.

"You almost died." He said in a quieter voice, "I don't ever want to lose you, Nico. You mean the world to me. I don't want to get another phone call in the middle of the night saying that you are under 24 hour suicide watch."

"I wasn't suicidal, Percy." Nico mumbled.

Percy didn't answer. He rested his head against Nico's knee. The ghost king felt horrible for putting him through this.

"I'm sorry."

"I just… I never _ever_ want to get that phone call _ever_ again. I don't want to worry that I'll wake up and find you bled out on the floor. It's enough that we have the monsters and the gods against us."

"Percy… I'm so sorry." Nico mumbled.

The son of Poseidon leaned his head back against Nico's knee so that he could look into his dark eyes, "But you're not gonna stop."

"No."

"Why… why do you do this to yourself?"

Nico sighed, "It's… hard to explain if you've never… done it."  
"Try." Percy twisted around so he was kneeling in front of Nico, "Just try to explain it."

"Have you ever sunk so deep into despair- not the river. I know you've done that. But, just every single thing is going wrong that even the good things in your life can't even it out?" When Percy didn't say anything, Nico continued, "You are the good thing in my life, but I can't stand the constant teasing, the looks. I hate being the center of attention and you know that.

"And on top of that… Bianca's ghost keeps trying to visit me."

Percy startled when he said that, "Bianca's ghost?"

"Yeah. I don't know what to do. She wants me to go to the Underworld… but, Percy… I don't think I could emotionally stand to see her again."

"Is she why you did this?" Percy gently brushed his fingers gently over the bandage.

"Her… death…" He struggled to say the word, "And… the Stolls and Clarrise and all the other people out there. I've left this cabin twice since we got here."

"I thought the Stolls were your friends," Percy's fingers began to unravel the gauze.

"I thought they were, too, but they're making fun of us just like everyone else." He was quiet for a moment, watching Percy expose his cuts, "You've always been so strong. You held up the world, for gods' sakes. You never care what anyone thinks."

"I care what you think."

"And I love you more than anything in the world." Nico reached out with his free hand and cupped Percy's face, drawing the other boy's eyes away from the ugly self inflicted wounds on his arm.

"Then don't do this to yourself. I may be able to take the teasing and all the idiots out there, but I can't stand seeing you like this." The tears that had stopped, started up again, dripping onto Nico's bloody wrist.

Seeing Percy like this, so broken and hurt, made Nico's heart hurt. He started crying to, but his were tears of guilt and anger. Guilt that he made Percy feel this way and anger because he wasn't strong enough to go without the blades, _his _blades…

His drug.

* * *

**So... Chapter 2. Yay!**

**Thank you my sandwiches for all the lovely comments.**

**I would've updated sooner, but I was confused as to how to do that.**

**Also, I am currently writing the next chapter and am getting horrible feels from it... the bad kind of feels... ya know? Like when something absolutely horrible happens and you wanna throw the book across the room? Yeah, almost chucked the computer. :/**

**Poor Nico.**

**SO, with that exciting news...**

**Enjoy, lovelies.**

**~A**


	3. Chapter 3

Percy stayed the night. The cake had gone untouched. What would be the point in celebrating something that never happened?

Of course, there had been more tears. Percy had, despite Nico's protests, wanted to see the raw flesh. The ghost king had refused to look at his boyfriend, refused to see the pain in the other boy's eyes as he gazed at the self inflicted gashes. The feeling of Percy's tears splashing onto his arm would be forever seared into Nico's mind.

The worst part was when Percy had leaned down to kiss them. That's what brought on Nico's own tears: Percy's undying love for him. They flowed freely down his face.

After that, the two had curled up on Nico's bed and fallen asleep with their arms wrapped around each other.

Nico awoke the next morning to a banging on his door, "Yo, Nico! Let us in! It's like… 10! You missed breakfast!"

It was Jason. Nico could recognize his voice.

"Come on, Nico!" His girlfriend, Piper, continued, "We're worried about you, Nico!"

Nico groaned and wiggled out of Percy's warm embrace. He trudged to the door and opened it, "Hey, guys."

"Hey, Nico. How ya-" Jason's eyes landed on the unwrapped cuts on his arm. He forgotten to cover them up before answering the door.

"Oh, Nico." Piper reached for his arm but the ghost king jerked away. He crossed his arms, trying to hide the injuries both old and new.

"Neeks… why would you…" Jason furrowed his brow, "Can we come in?"

Nico mouth tightened into a straight line, but he nodded, "Yeah, but keep it down. Percy's still asleep."

"Percy's here?" Piper stepped into the room, taking in the scene. The old cake sat on the dresser, probably no longer edible. Nico's jacket was thrown on the floor as were the bloody bandages. A package of deflated balloons lay at the foot of the bed next to Percy's thin navy blue jacket. The sea prince was snoozing quietly on Nico's bed. After the ghost king had gotten up, Percy had wrapped his limbs around a pillow.

Nico wanted to be that pillow again.

"Nico, why do you do that to yourself?" Jason whispered, sitting on one of the unused beds. Piper remained standing, looking on with worried eyes.

The small boy refused to meet his best friend's eyes, "Jason. There's nothing you can say to make me stop. Percy has already beat you to it."

The son of Jupiter stared at his feet, "I'm… sorry that you feel the need to do that."

Piper took a tentative step forward, "Is this because of the teasing?"

Tears began to form in Nico's eyes. He would _not _cry in front of Jason's girlfriend. He _would not cry_ just because Piper had guessed right. Not because she was looking at him like some scared injured animal that needed saving.

"Nico?"

The ghost king glanced up when he heard his boyfriend's voice. Percy's eyes were still closed, but his hand was wandering over the bed, searching for Nico. He grunted and pressed his face into the pillow. A muffled "Niiiicccooooo" could be heard.

With a faint laugh, Nico moved towards Percy and slid his hand into the other boy's. Percy played with his fingers for a few moments before looking up at him, "I had a dream about us."

Nico smiled softly, "Percy, Jason and Piper are here."

The sea prince said something incoherent and looked over at the couple, his messy bed hair making him look slightly manic.

"Hi. You guys are here early."

"It's nearly…" Jason checked his watch, "11."  
Percy's sleepy gaze widened slightly at this, "Really? Nico, why don't you have a clock?"

"Never needed it." Nico shrugged, tugging lightly on Percy's fingers.

Piper watched on with a sad smile. The boys' relationship was absolutely adorable. The picture in front of her would've been perfect had Nico's arms not been laced with scars and cuts.

"How have you _never _needed a clock?" Percy sounded utterly astonished.

"I don't know… I'm not really on a schedule."

"Well, I am," Percy didn't sound mad, "I had a sword fighting lesson at 10:30."

He flung the sheets back and tried to straighten his rumpled clothes. He glanced in the mirror over the dresser and ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to flatten it down. It half worked.

With a sigh, he turned back to Nico, cupped the back of his neck, and pulled the ghost king in for a kiss.

"Do me a favor," He said when he pulled away, "Hang out with Jason and Piper today. Go out and _do_ something, okay?"

"Percy… I-"

"_Okay?"_ Percy repeated.

Nico sighed, "Fine."

"Thank you." Percy kissed him again and left the room to go teach his sword fighting lesson.

* * *

"I'm so sorry I'm late, Eryn. I overslept and didn't realize what time it was," Percy said to the small brunette daughter of Hermes in front of him.

"It's okay. I got here late too. Leo was fixing up my sword." Eryn smiled at him. She was missing a tooth.

"Good. Do you remember what I showed you last time?"

"Mmhmm." She adjusted her feet and held her sword up.

"Good job, now just-" Percy started but was rudely interrupted by another camper.  
"Hey, shrimp!" He snickered, "Hanging out with the gay guy, again?"

Eryn frowned and looked away.

"How do you expect to learn good sword fighting from someone like him?" The boy snickered, "You're both losers."

Percy glanced at Eryn. She looked defeated, like she was use to the bullying. Anger surged inside of him.

"I bet you couldn't beat me." He challenged the boy, who had been walking away.

"Excuse me?" He turned and stared at Percy like the thought of not being able to beat him was ridiculous.

"I said 'I bet you couldn't beat me.'" Percy faced the boy. He was tall, thin. Lanky, but not scrawny like Leo, with a mop of blond hair and stormy grey eyes. He pulled Riptide out of his pocket and uncapped the pen.

"Oh please. I'm not wasting my time on you."

"What's your name?" Percy asked, stepping closer.

"What?" The boy moved closer.

"Are you hard of hearing? I asked you for your name." The sea prince was a scary calm as he closed the distance between him and the boy.

"Damian." The boy squared his shoulders and lifted his chin to face Percy, "Son of Athena."  
"You're awfully stupid for a child of Athena." Percy tossed Riptide into the air and caught it, leveling it at Damian, "Now fight me and prove that I'm a lousy swordsman."

The boy's cocky grin faltered, "I don't have a sword."

"Man, looks like you really are stupid." He dropped Riptide to his side, "We're in a sword fighting arena. There are five sword racks. Get one and let's go."

Damian hesitated and moved over to the nearest sword rack.

Eryn tugged on his sleeve, "Percy, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to fight him." He stated matter-of-factly.

"You don't have to do that for me." She squeaked.

Percy grinned down at her, "I'm not just doing it for you. He did just say I couldn't fight because I'm gay. I'm going to prove him wrong by beating his butt."

Eryn grinned, "I'm rooting for you."

"Thanks. Now, remove yourself from the arena."

The girl giggled, sheathed her sword, and ran towards the fence. She scrambled up it and sat down, ready to watch the fight.

"Ready yet, Damian?" Percy called.

* * *

**SO, I decided not to make y'all cry until the next chapter... and possibly the chapter after that. I hope you guys enjoy this :)**

**Tell me what you think in the reviews?  
What do you think will happen?**

**(Hint: Percy may or may not survive.)**

**Enjoy, my sandwiches.**

**~A**


	4. Chapter 4

Jason had to literally _drag_ Nico out of his cabin. The boy looked like a turtle with his head tucked down into his jacket, trudging along beside him and Piper.

"What do you guys wanna do?" The daughter of Aphrodite asked.

"Go home." Nico grumbled.

Jason sighed, "Percy told us to get you out of the cabin while he taught his sword lesson."

"Why don't we go watch?" Piper suggested.

Nico shrugged. He didn't care what they did. He'd rather be back in his room, moping about and wishing that life were better.

Jason grinned and wrapped his arms around Piper and Nico's shoulders. "Come on."

The trio headed towards the sword fighting arena where a crowd was beginning to gather. They were chanting "Damian!" over and over again.

"Come on, Big D! Beat that loser!" Someone next to Jason shouted.

A halfblood in front of Nico mumbled to their friend, "Dude, Damian is getting beat by that gay guy he's always talking smack about."

Nico's entire body stiffened, and he began to shove his way through the crowd, leaving Jason and Piper behind as he elbowed his way through people.

"_Percy?"_

The blue eyed boy turned when he heard his name, "Nico?"

The blond boy saw his chance and took it, digging his short sword into Percy's gut.

"_PERCY!" _Nico vaulted over the fence and sprinted towards the fallen boy. Percy was clutching his stomach and blood was pouring onto the soft dirt.

Damian smirked, wiping his bloody sword on his jeans, "Looks like your pathetic boyfriend is here to save you, Jackson."

Nico's world seemed to explode as he watched Percy, curled up in pain, bleeding out before him. In a fit of rage, he pulled his Stygian iron sword out of its sheath and lunged at Damian. Surprised, the blond boy wasn't able to get his blade up fast enough. Nico's blade nicked his thigh, drawing blood.

Damian cursed and spun towards Nico. Nico deflected his strike and stepped forward. His sword cut through the thin Camp Halfblood t-shirt and sliced the son of Athena's rib cage. He shouted in pain and rammed the bunt of his sword into Nico's head.

The ghost king's vision blurred as he stumbled back. He shook his head to clear it then straight out tackled Damian. The two feel, swords forgotten. Nico's fist collided with the other boy's face multiple times. His nose was probably broken, and his lip was split.

He was about to punch him again, but a strong grip encircled his arm and jerked him back.

"Mr. di Angelo, may I ask you why you feel the need to kill your camp mates?" Chiron asked, looking back a forth from Damian to Nico.

Nico jerked away from Chiron, "He stabbed Percy!"

"The idiot challenged me to a sword fight." Damian stood up and motioned to Percy's limp body.

Nico was about to lunge at him again, but he felt a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Nico." Piper whispered, adding a touch of charmspeak, "Why don't you help Jason carry him to the lake?"

The ghost king nodded, picking his sword up off the ground and sheathing it. He moved towards his boyfriend, but Chiron grabbed his attention, "Mr. di Angelo, when you're done, please join me and Mr. Armstrong in the Big House."

"Yes, sir." Nico hurried away with Jason, Percy resting in their arms.

The sight of all the blood made Nico feel queasy. His stomach churned. If Percy didn't make it through this… he wasn't sure he would either.

* * *

Percy was vaguely aware of everything that was going on around him. He had been fading in and out of consciousness. He remembered the pain of the sword in his gut. Then Nico was there, fighting furiously against Damian. There was blood on the ground, his own and one of the fighters. It could've been the Athena kid's or Nico's- he wasn't sure.

Next thing he knew, Chiron was yanking a struggling boy away from Damian. The boy had been knocked down and had had a number done to his face. Percy had laughed, delirious from pain and blood loss. His boyfriend had done that to the stupid son of a blowfish. Unfortunately, the laugh ended when he began to spit up blood.

He went unconscious again and when he awoke, Nico and Jason were carrying him, setting him gently in the lake. He took a deep breath when the water washed around him and ended up choking on the blood that was filling his lungs.

Blood dribbled out of his mouth as he fixed his unfocused eyes on Nico, "I… I love you."

The darkness was coming again.

"Don't. Don't say that. This isn't goodbye. Heal yourself." Percy could hear the tears in his voice, " Heal-" Nico hiccuped, "-yourself."

Percy's eyes drooped, "Don't… cut… because of me." The world was fading out.

Nico's tears splashed onto his face, "I swear, Percy, if you leave me…"

But Percy interrupted him, "Jason… don't-" He coughed, "Don't let him."

"I don't think I have that power," Jason said sadly.

"Percy. You heal yourself this instant. You're in the water." Nico cupped Percy's face and pressed their foreheads together, "Draw strength from it. The ocean gives life. Let it give life to you."

Percy's thoughts were mush. He could feel the mortal world fading away, but he couldn't.

"Fight. Fight for me, Percy." Nico's voice was the only thing he could hear anymore, "I refuse to live in a world without you."

_Nico…._ Percy thought, _I'd never leave you._

He sucked in half a lungful of air- the other half was filled with blood- and told the water to heal him. The ocean was life. The ocean was healing.

Slowly and painfully, he felt his stomach begin to close up. He heard Nico gasp above the roar in his ears, "Yes. Yes, Percy! That's it."

Nico pressed their lips together momentarily before pulling away and watching Percy's wound slowly close.

Once the son of Poseidon was sure he would live, he let himself sleep.

* * *

**SO, I am really looking forward to seeing... well reading about y'all's reactions! Let me know how you reacted in the reviews.**

**Lucky for you, Rangeroffiction convinced me to NOT kill Percy off just yet. So go thank her.**

**There might be a little more heartbreak in the next chapter, but nothing too new, so yeah.**

**Enjoy, my sandwiches.**

**~A**


	5. Chapter 5

Nico never once left Percy's side from where he remained in the infirmary. Four days. That was how long the son of Poseidon slept. Jason and Piper had brought him food, which he didn't eat.

Nico never once left Percy's side except to add another tally to his arm. On day one, he made one long, deep cut. On day two, he added two more, and so on. On day four, the cuts reached halfway up his forearms.

On the fifth day, right before Nico had grabbed his blades and headed into the bathroom, Percy woke up.

"Nico…" He mumbled.

The ghost king's heart stopped.

"Percy…" He breathed, "Oh gods, I didn't know if you were going to make it or not."

Percy smiled weakly, "I told you I wouldn't leave you, didn't I?"

Nico laughed and kissed Percy hard. The son of Poseidon's hand went up to cup the back of his head. They kissed gently then Nico pulled away.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been run over by a minotaur. You?"

"I don't think you understand how relieved I am," Nico ran his fingers through Percy's hair.

Percy smiled, "Come here." He pulled the ghost king close again and kissed him deeply. Nico's mouth filled with the taste of Percy: sweet and salty.

Behind him, someone their throat. Nico leapt away, blushing deeply as Chiron moved into the room to check on Percy.

The son of Poseidon laughed at his expression, "We'll be finishing that later, Neeks."

Needless to say, Chiron's poker face was top notch. He checked Percy's vitals, examined the half-scarred half-scabbed skin on his stomach, rewrapped his torso in gauze, and then declared him ready to go.

"Remember to eat a cube of ambrosia once a day for a week, and try to be in the water as much as possible." Chiron said before moving on to the next injured camper.

"Do you need help moving, Percy?" Nico asked, watching him struggled to sit up.

The son of the sea god grinned and threw his arm around the ghost king's shoulders, "Only from you."

"You're delirious." Nico laughed. He awkwardly helped Percy out of the room. The pair hobbled across the campgrounds, drawing strange looks from the other campers, but, surprisingly, no one confronted them.

By the time they reached the cabin, Percy was breathing hard. Nico opened the door and gently set him on the bed. The son of Poseidon made a weird noise that was a mixture of a sigh and a groan. The younger boy ran his fingers through Percy's hair.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"What time is it?" Percy tried to twist his neck so he could see the clock.

"7:50," The ghost king replied.

"Are you tired?"

"A bit." Nico smiled when Percy opened his arms wide, inviting the son of Hades to lay down with him.

Carefully, Nico crawled into bed. He was about to pull the sheets over them, but Percy stopped him.

"You can't sleep with your jacket on." He stated.

Nico licked his lips nervously, "Okay…" Slowly, he slid the jacket off; it dropped to the floor.

Percy didn't react other than frowning slightly when he saw the fresh cuts crisscrossing their way up his left arm.

"I didn't know if you were going to-" The ghost king stopped when Percy shook his head sadly.

"Nico. Gods, I love you so much. You have to stop this. If not for yourself, then do it for me."

He refused to meet Percy's gaze, "I- I can't just… stop."

"I'm only asking you to try, Nico. Just try to go without your blades."

"How?" The ghost king croaked out, "How can I possibly…"

"Whenever you want to cut, come to me." Percy said, kissing Nico's forehead, "Come talk to me. Let me remind you how much I love you. I'll make you happy again."

Nico took a deep breath and looked away, considering it, "Fine." He turned back to Percy, "I'll try for a week. If it doesn't work-"

"I'll come up with something else." Percy pulled Nico to his chest. The son of Hades carefully cuddled up to him, trying not to accidentally bump his wound.

"I love you, Nico."

The boy smiled sadly, hating that he was hurting his boyfriend this way, "I love you, too, Percy."

* * *

"I don't know what to do," Jason said to Leo and Piper.

"There's nothing you can do," Leo replied grimly, "He's doing this to himself."

Piper rubbed Jason's arm comfortingly. The trio sat on the beach, just outside Poseidon's Cabin. The sun was setting, turning the water and Jason's hair into golden fire.

The son of Jupiter sighed, "I just… I wish there was something I can do to make him stop."

Leo glanced away from Jason. With a steely voice, he said, "You can't _make_ him do anything. You can help him see that cutting is not the way to go, but you can't _make _him." When no one interrupted, he continued, "You can take away his blades. Put him in a containment unit or whatever, but he'll find a way to get around it. Making him stop cold turkey would be the worse thing you could do for him. It'll only make the urges stronger."

"When did you get so wise?" Jason asked.

"Jason." Piper said sternly, "I think Leo is saying that… well pretty much… Nico needs to know that cutting is still an option, but he has to choose not to do it. The blades will always be there, tempting him, but you have to help him be strong enough to not run to them when he feels depressed."

Jason sighed, "How does one do that?"

Piper smiled sadly, "Be his friend. His best friend that will always be there for him. Show him that although there are a lot of jerkbutt idiot faces out there, he can lean on you and Percy when he's upset."

Both boys chuckled.

"Jerkbutt idiot faces?" Leo laughed.

Piper grinned and threw sand at them, "You two are hopeless."

* * *

**To all the reviews worried that I would kill off Percy: I was just messing with you guys. I would ****_NEVER_**** in a million years kill off Percy. That'd be like killing myself (*winks at RangerofFiction*). I honestly considered it for a bit (I was having a really bad day) but honestly, y'all would murder me slowly and painfully if I killed off Percy because 1) it's killing Percy and 2) Nico would commit suicide because of it. So yeah, Percy is safe. **

**But that doesn't mean that I won't find more ways to play with your heart strings. ;) *evil laugh***

* * *

**I am so sorry that I haven't been updating any of my fics. I've been writing all summer and in the past week, my creative juices ran out. I've been staring at my computer screen for hours each day, but nothing had come of it.**

**Also, I am really into roleplay and it takes up a majority of my time, so that is also why I haven't updated anything.**

**And on top of that, my friend had gotten me obsessed with Ouran High School Host Club. I have been watching that whenever I can.**

**I will try to be updating all my fics tonight so I hope you guys are happy (in the non-sarcastic way)**

**Enjoy my sandwiches,**

**~A**


	6. Reply to a Random Guest's Review

**Sorryyyyy. I know this isn't a chapter, but once I'm done with this, i will be editing and posting the next chapter for Treading Waters.**

A Random Guest chapter 5 . Jul 4 I'm sorry in advance for this comment sounding like flames, because it's not. Not really.  
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you have no real experience with self harm. You can't just stop, you CAN'T take away someone's blades and expect them to be okay. That would be like someone who smokes 2 packs of cigs a day and just abruptly throwing out all their cigarettes. You can't do that. The self-garner in question would go crazy and induce pain on themself in any other way possible. So maybe Percy takes Nico's blades, but Nico will find a way to cut himself with something else. And the whole "come talk to me when you feel like cutting" is utter bullshit. When I feel like cutting, talking to someone is the LAST thing I want to do. There are too many self harm stories and WAY too much romanticizing of self harm. Cutting yourself is a big deal and you can't just stop, because self harm is an addiction. So I'm sorry but this is bullshit.

**In response to your review, Random Guest.**

**I currently ****_do_**** self harm, and I am well aware that taking away Nico's blades will in no way fix the issue. But, coming from Percy's point of view:**

**He has had no experience with self harm other than Nico and is trying ****_anything_**** to get him to stop. Trust me, I know it's an addiction, one I am currently trying to overcome. Nico is only really agreeing with Percy to satisfy him. He doesn't want Percy to worry about him. I never said he was going to ****_keep _****his promise. In fact, in the next chapter or so, he will, most likely, be breaking it.**

**And, if you had read all the way through, which I doubt you did, you will see that Piper, Leo, and Jason have addressed this topic.**

**Just an after thought: why would I write a story I couldn't relate to or had no prior info on how it worked?**

**Oh, and I'm sorry you feel that my work is "bullshit". I hope you realize though, that cutting- or any form of self harm- is different for everyone. I had this friend who I was sure would self harm and she's as clean as a bar of soap.**

**Thanks for your review my lovely random guest.**

**~A**


End file.
